Patrick Murphy on Education Democrat

Quality public education is best way to grow middle class

Patrick E. Murphy: High quality education for all American students is one of the best ways we can grow our middle class. We need to fully fund public education and remove barriers to access. I support universal pre-kindergarten, increasing teacher pay to retain top talent, and strengthening public schools with additional services including early childhood, youth development, and family engagement. I also support fully funding Head Start, Title I, and IDEA to improve equal access to high quality public education. At the college level, we need to address the enormous burden of student loan debt and ultimately, we need to work towards debt-free college. Finally, we need to invest in our community colleges and technical schools, so our next generation is fully equipped to compete global

We claim to be pro-teacher; so provide resources

In this economy, we must do more than lip service to our children's needs. We must provide resources and options. We can't afford to cut any more from our system. I believe it is in our national interest to reinvest in our children, which is critical to our future growth.

The hundreds of billions of dollars we are spending in Iraq and Afghanistan should be returned home, where in part, it can be used to fulfill our long promised commitment to education. We must properly provide for our children's education from Pre-K through PhD, including trade schools & community college.